Agriculture in India: Contemporary Issues

India has a long history of agriculture. It’s about ten thousand years since the first seedling sprouted here. India’s 60% manpower still earns its livelihood from farm sector. We are among the largest producers of most of the cereals, cash crops, vegetables and fruits. When the agricultural output of India dribbles, food prices all over the world shoot up. We drive the food economy of the world. Though India leads in terms of gross output but our productivity is dismally low. We have some serious issues to be resolved. The large subsidies being given in the form of fertilizer subsidy, loan waivers etc. are continuing to lay heavy burden to the exchequer. This eats up bulk of govt. spending in the sector resulting in meagre amount left for innovations to be tried out. There are issues with the concept of minimum support price (MSP) too. Every financial year witnesses a whooping increase in MSPs. Govt. makes it a point to lift them in order to avoid any political consequence. The whole idea to repudiate the cobweb cycle is creating a new Frankenstein’s monster. The wide spread social backwardness and illiteracy along with the decreasing average land size hampers the future prospects. We have a poor credit delivery mechanism. There is a need to revitalize the cooperative credit structure. The cooperatives are at the crossroads of existence in this globalised and liberalized world. The commercial banks should be persuaded to aim for inclusive growth. Some pre operating conditions can be put on the foreign banks to strengthen the rural banking structure. The present farm- industry interface is too weak to cater to the needs of large sector. The innovations achieved in lab never reach down to the poor while the field breakthroughs hardly get their due recognition. There is a huge scope of R&D in the sector and the tillers need them badly. After ten thousand years of agro civilization, we are still dependent primarily on the monsoon to irrigate our farms. The agricultural output oscillates between robust and sluggish depending on the year’s monsoon. Water shed developed programs should be implemented in all spirit. The marketing channels for agricultural goods are too complex lacking in the basic infrastructure. We need to revamp post harvesting mechanisms, build storage capacities, ensure standardization and deploy proper grading system to protect farmers. A new threat due to climate change and global warming is questioning the very existence of the life on earth. Agriculture is one of the most vulnerable sectors. People often talk about 2nd green revolution but that in the absence of technological breakthroughs seems improbable. Organic farming is the one promising field where India can make the best use of its large organic wastes to reduce its reliance on synthetic fertilizers. We have a tremendous potential to develop a rich culture of bio fertilizers, bio pesticides and green manure. There is a strong wave going in favor of diversification of traditional crop patterns and agro practices. Diversification is the need of the hour. Most of our farmers thrive upon subsistence agriculture. The fields of horticulture, fishery, poultry, hatchery, silkworm farming etc. if efficiently capitalized can provide them profitable business during low times. The National Bamboo Mission launched by Govt. is an honest effort in this direction. The local needs specific interventions can truly bear fruits. Every now and then we found ourselves grappled in the food shortages and inflation. The situation mandates us to focus on low yielding areas. Crops like pulse, oilseeds need to be given a boost. A dedicated organization promoting the rural entrepreneurs, innovators, mechanics and other local skilled people must be set up. Besides these awareness has to be spread among farmers and cultivators regarding the upcoming technologies, export prospects, govt. policies etc. Recently govt. announced the renovation of hundreds of ITI’s for the purpose. A lot of Kisan Call Centres have also become operational. The power shortage can be addressed by setting up mini power plants in the villages which use bio fuels, solar, wind, rice husk etc. as its fuel. Funds for National Solar Mission which aims at installing capacity of 20k MW by 2020 can be utilized for the purpose.
Thus there are plenty of agendas before the nation to be addressed. The challenge is to evolve the best agricultural practices based on local experiences making optimum use of resources. The idea is to create ecologically sustainable, economically efficient and socially equitable agriculture in India.

Love, Sex and Dhokha

I’m a big fan of Dibakar Bannerjee. The way he propagates his ideas is truly novel though all his movie characters could easily be seen walking on street sides, travelling in buses, trading in markets etc. He has earned himself an image of trend setter in bollywood. One can expect unseen from his films but LSD seems to have an adapted screenplay. Love, sex and dhokha all three are the basic ingredients of US-Pakistan relationship. Their love begun in early 1950’s with the Washington visit of then PM of Pakistan Liaqat Ali Khan. This was an era when both India and Pak were laying foundations of their foreign policies. It’s always easy for a Pakistani foreign policy maker to take decision, the golden rule is simply follow the path opposite to the one adopted by India. During the cold war when the big brother decided to stay non-aligned the younger followed a pro western policy. US-Pak were engaged in a relationship by the time SEATO and CENTO were signed in mid 50’s. US had already committed to a Mutual defence agreement with Pak. It termed Pak as its ‘most allied ally’ in south Asia and the exchange of cards and letters became the order of day. They were in love but yet not ready for intercourse. Next few years were stagnant as US was engaged in evolving latest cold war tactics to stop Soviets in its track. Two decades old relationship then hit an all time low during the Indo-Pak war 1965 when US terminated the military assistance to Pak. This was for the first time the Islamic state tasted the ‘dhokha’ from its partner. There was simply no reason for US to continue aid Pak. Though USA was against the very sense of liberating Bangladesh but the Americans knew that any military action against India would led them to confrontation with USSR. They adopted the policy of wait and watch and finally ended up as a mere audience of Indira’s show. Yet another ‘dhokha’ from the beloved lover. US formed CENTO to check any south west expansion of Soviet Union. Pak was its prominent partner but the idea collapsed with the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Soon things turned around when USSR invaded Afghanistan in Dec 1979 and US was dying to put breaks on the Soviet’s intentions. USA was in dying need of some soil in South Asia to counter Russians and Pakistan was its but obvious choice. Time has come for a pet to pay its master. This was the beginning of a new chapter titled “Kamasutra” in the US-Pak relationship. US with the help of ISI provided arms, training, intelligence and financial aid to Mujahideens in order to throw out Soviets from the land of Afghans and it indeed happened. The Russians pulled out their forces in 1988 and by that time Pakistan had gone richer by many billion dollars but the saga of their first night didn’t last long. In 1990, Clinton administration cut off military aid to Pak on the issue of nuclear proliferation. In May, 1998, India conducted nuclear tests to prove its strength to the world. Pak had no choice left except for retaliating back by conducting its own test. That fusion reaction deepened the fission between the future ‘strategic partners’. The furious west this time put some serious sanctions on both India and Pak. While India still backed upon its intimacy with Russia and other developing countries, US-Pak relations were going nowhere. All credit then goes to Al Qaeda and the Taliban for creating the conditions which were impossible pre 9/11. They rejuvenated two lovers and fixed their marriage. Pak army along with NATO forces cracked heavily on Taliban and fundamentalists. Sometimes they often found themselves perplexed as if they were fighting against their own people. After almost a decade of war both nations seems to have lost more than gain from the “war on terror”.
2010: USA is now finding it difficult to sustain war on two fronts. Pakistan’s economy is drowning each day with the growing threat of Taliban. Though Obama reinforced the lost belief that war can be won but the ground reports are negative. Recently US-Pak shared a strategic dialogue where US committed to triple its military aid to Pak to reach up to 1.5b$ per year for the next 10 years. No one knows where this money will go and what’ll be the future of the region but one thing is sure US’s commitment for the next 10 yrs shows there is still plenty of time left for the world to witness yet another ‘dhokha’ in this formidable love story. It’s upon Pak to make the most of it, to reconstruct their country before the region is stabilized and Uncle Sam is gone. By the way, 5 star to Bannerjee for his work.